Operation: Sydney
by Void-Walker99
Summary: Talon operatives storm an ex-Overwatch research centre in Syndey, Australia. A lone survivor is trapped in the building.
1. Chapter 1

Operation: Sydney

"K4?", The young man, still covered in a layer of dust, whispered through blackened teeth to the broken Omnic beneath him. Three of its nine headlights had shattered, sparks flying from its lower body. The chest of the machine was slowly being crushed beneath a part of the roof that had caved in. Its speakers let out a blur of static, a mechanised hand reaching up to touch the man's cheek. The young man, an Australian gentlemen numbering only twenty or so with dark hair, met the eye-slits of the machine. Gunfire could be heard as the Talon operatives continued to storm through the facility, gunning down anyone that they came across.

"Kzzrt... Go... Krrrrk... Varik. I... Zrrpk... Join the Iris". The broken words emanated from the Omnic as the cold metal hand slid down from Varik's face, thudding into the ground beneath them. The last of the headlights faded out. Varik looked down at his lifelong friend for a few moments, the smoke and gunfire fading from sight and sound as everything seemed to focus on that one moment.

He broke himself away, turning his gaze when he heard the door to the room thud as someone attempted to get in. Varik looked around quickly, quickly crawling through the rubble towards an overturned desk, pressing his back to it to make himself as small as possible. The caved in with an almighty crack, the sound of heavy boots were heard soon after. Varik peered from his hiding spot, seeing two of the Talon operatives, dressed all in black combat armour, looking through the room. Each were carrying two large assault rifles, as black as the rest of their armour that seemed to blend in with the smoke tumbling into the room. The man reached down and picked up a large shard of metal that was by his side, his eyes closing as he heard the boots getting closer to his location.

"You think the boss is certain one of Them is here?", he heard one say to the other, the voice being carried across an altered voice modulator, likely in the man's helmet.

"Of course they do. I doubt the boss would've brought so many of the other big-wigs... We've got to be quick... Omega team is saying that they say one of Their dropships coming this way". The other voice carried authority and had no modulator. It sounded female. But Varik just gripped his shard of metal tighter, well aware of what he might have to do... But what could he do? The worst fight he had gotten into was as a teenager with some other kid twice his size.

"They are here..." The voice sent shivers through Varik's spine. It definitely was neither of the two of the Talon soldiers in the room and it seemed to come from the smoke. He thought he saw glimpses of a skull floating through upon deeper inspection, which only made his fear grow as he sunk into the wooden table. He heard another set of footsteps, soft and quiet, as the two operatives turned away.

"Sir, we have not completed the sweep of the building. The artefact c-" The voice was cut off by a booming snap, followed by a click. The body slammed into the table where Varik was hiding, shunting him forwards somewhat. The other, as yet unseen figure, threw whatever was in its hands to the ground.

"Regroup with the others. We are leaving." He heard the ghostly voice emanate through the smoke once more. Sounds of the two Talon operatives turning and leaving soon faded beneath the echoing gunfire and explosions radiating from the rest of the building. Varik let out a sigh of relief, throwing the metal shard away before looking from his hiding place. Blood was pooling near him, the Talon operative was still slumped against the table, a gaping hole in his chest where someone had shot him at close range. Presumably the smoking weapons on the ground near him were what did it. He looked around slowly before reaching down and taking one of the smoking weapons. It was light and as black as the weapons of the other Talon units. It was of expert make... Why someone would throw such a thing away was baffling. The roof above him groaned as something heavy landed on it, showering the room with more dust. He made for the door, sending a look over his shoulder at the crushed body of K4-R1, before heading out the door.

The corridor was long, with rooms branching off here and there. Blood smeared up the walls with the accompanying bodies on the ground, with the same sizeable hole that he had seen on the Talon unit. Smoke was thick here as well, Varik having to take deep breaths in order to not choke. He glanced out of one of the windows on the wall, seeing a dropship below him, in the usual Talon black colours, being boarded by several teams of Talon terrorists. They moved with military precision and timing. He had heard the stories about them, but had no idea as to what they were capable of. Footsteps suddenly appeared behind him and he swung around, wielding the shotgun in two hands. Before him, a tall... Presumably man, clad in a black cloak stood before him. The man leered at Varik from behind a skull mask, revealing nothing of the features beneath. The rest of the man was clad in heavy combat armour and bandoliers of shotgun shells. Varik could feel himself shake as he slowly dropped the weapon at his feet. A sinister, ghostly chuckle came from the masked man, a clawed hand reaching out to grab Varik by the throat. The strength of the figure was incredible, managing to lift Varik without even seeming to put effort into it.

"You are lucky to have survived... Civilian. I will ask you only once..." The voice was sinister, making Varik's skin goose bump and his body to shiver in fear.

"Where is the core?"

Varik tapped a few numbers into the terminal, sweat continuously beading and falling to the ground from hid forehead as he felt the unending gaze of Reaper on his back. The monster had produced another pair of his shotguns, keeping one pointed to Varik. Occasionally his radio buzzed, Talon operatives shouting that 'They' were here and that they should withdraw. Each time, a barking shout from Reaper told them that they would remain until the job was done. Explosions rocked the building as the bullet resistant glass door slid open silently, revealing the dark room inside. Reaper stepped forward and pushed the man in with a shotgun to his back, following shortly after. Light globes lit the room up quickly, revealing row after row of data-banks. The door slid silently shut behind them again.

"Stay here". The ghostly voice pierced through him. The cloaked man put the shotguns away in the depths of his cloak before he walked off in a seemingly random direction. Varik felt his legs give out from under him as he collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily in a vain attempt to calm himself. He did not know how long he had lain there, but eventually there was a smashing noise as something came through the door, small shards of glass cutting him through his clothes. He scrambled to his feet, quickly turning to see what has come through. A white-haired man stood infront of him, his face obscured by a mask with some kind of visor. He wore a blue jacket of sorts over combat armour. A large machine rifle was in his hands and Varik could tell the man was equally surprised to see him. A gruff voice came from the mask,

"Athena said there were no civilians left in the building... You should not be here...". Varik just stood there, still shaking from the encouter with Reaper, unable to speak. Before he could even have the common decency to wet himself, that ghostly voice emanated through the banks of computer columns,

"Jack... Long time no see. Still saving little girls from street thugs?". The voice seemed come from nowhere and everywhere. The soldier raised his weapon, seeming to forget about the civilian.

"Reyes! Come out and fight, traitor!" He snarled through his mask into the room. One by one, the lights went out. Starting from the back to the front of the room until the only light was what could tumble through the shattered doorway onto the back of the soldier, revealing a large, almost cartoony "76" written on the back of it. An ominous chuckle swam through the darkness, reaching the ears of the duo. There was a crack, followed by a snap, before sparks went flying from a nearby computer back, showering the duo in sparks. 76 dived into the darkness and Varik dived to the ground, seeking what little protection it could offer. Flashes of crimson exchanged with flashes of blue, explosions appearing every now and then as the Soldier fired several volleys of helix rockets at Reaper. The fight continued for what felt like hours, both sides hurling insults and curses at one another that Varik did not understand. Some names and places rang vague bells, stories from his childhood and glimpses at the news coming to mind, but for the most part he kept his head down. There was a lul in the noise, and Varik felt someone strong grab him by the scruff of his neck, feeling cold steel be pressed the side of his face. He let a whimper escape his lips as he saw the bloodstained claw of Reaper wrap around his torso, the shotgun at his head. From the dark, he could see the orange line of Soldier's visor looking at them.

"It seems we are at a stalemate once again Commander. You would not shoot thhis innocent man, would you?" The shotgun was further pressed into his head, the ring of the chamber against his temple. There was more silence before the orange line could be seen to step closer. Reaper started to walk backwards, holding onto Varik as he stepped over the broken glass.

"I don't play by the rules anymore Reyes!" The shout came from the dark as the orange line of the visor seemed to explode and radiate with a yellow glow. Flashes of blue lit up the corridor of computer banks as Varik heard Reaper snarl in pain. Blue bolts of plasma singed the hair on the side of his face, but noticeably missing. Eventually he felt himself suddenly fall back, a wisp of black smoke coiling around him before disappearing. He heard footsteps come towards him and heard something said before his vision faded,

"Overwatch! Withdraw! Reaper got away. Mercy, prepare for one casualty, one civilian".


	2. Chapter 2

Dust. As far as the eye could see. There was dust, sand, sand, dust, heap of scrap, dust and yet again more sand. Gearhead smirked a little behind her helmet, the chopper beneath her chugging quietly as she perched it at the top of the sand dune. She was clad head to toe in riding leathers, several scraps of omnic plating strapped to any exposed or vulnerable parts of her body. A large scrap rifle slung over her back was accompanied by a fancy-looking sword she had scavved from a ruined weapons factory. Her crash-helmet was adorned with the heart-cogs of several omnics. She peered over her shoulder, seeing the large cloud of dust thundering towards her. Somewhere beneath that mess was the rest of the Scavvers from her pack, all of them headed this way for this important meeting the Khan wanted them to go see.

It was a stupid name for a leader. She thought. If anything she was surprised Junkrat and Roadhog were still tolerating the fool. But she was only a scout, wasn't her place to argue... Much. She slowly dragged her gaze from the quickly moving dust-cloud back to the vista before her. There was never much to see from locations such as these, but occasionally they pointed in the general direction of ex-Omnic facilities that were ripe for scavenging, always a good day when that happened.

"You should just take the shipment and ride for Outpost Victoria, Adria". Came a voice, seemingly from nowhere. She frowned behind her helmet, reaching a gloved hand up to rest on the side of her headpiece. A quick glance to her left showed her the source of the sound. An Omnic, glowing red against the golden sands, stood beside her, its head-plate caved in and its joints rusted. Gearhead snarled at the thing, quickly looking away.

"You know I do not go away that easily... You made such a decision when you decided to use my fusion core for your bike... But you should listen to my council. We could escape. Be free of this place". The Omnic... Hallucination sounded adamant in its words, Gear briefly shooting it a glance. It was standing still, staring out over the sands in the direction that if looked at a map would point somewhere to Northern India, maybe Nepal. She gave another growl before gunning her engine. The Omnic disappeared in a puff of red smoke, eventually fading into the surrounding air. She didn't have time for this. Her choppa spewed out radioactive smoke from the exhaust, the wheels finding purchase in the sand as she raced down the dune, heading for the next one, sending up a cloud of the sands behind her.

The Talon drop-ship soared over the empty vista, the pitch-black drop-ship slipping silently out of its camo-field into the bright blue skies of the Outback. It was flying down in a landing procedure, landing gear extending out of its lower side, the engines disengaging as it lowered towards a relatively flat piece of ground. The ship was badly damaged, several holes in its plating revealed the inner workings of the ship, fuel dripping out of one of the engines onto the ground beneath it and the largest hole in the side showed a black-robed figure, with its distinctive skull-mask standing besides a purple-clad female of some form. Gear thought he saw the two of them exchanging a few words before the female slipped away into the darkness of the ship. The landing zone was the only man-made structure for miles, made by some black machines some months ago. Gear had watched them, practically grinding her teeth together to resist the urge to gun the things down. The ship reached the pad, landing with a thud. A small group of about five black-clad soldiers poured out from the side of the ship, immediately setting about repairing the worst of the damage. The black-robed figure just stood in the gap in the ship, staring directly at Gear.

She took this as her que. The scavver dismounted her chopper, leaving the engine quietly humming. The black robed figure disappeared for a moment before reappearing a few yards from her, arms folded over its chest. Reaper's voice drifted from him, ignoring Gear's ears and going straight to her brain.

"You are not Roadhog. Nor are you Junkrat. Explain yourself Scav". She saw him eye her up, the darkness of his mask hiding his features. He easily towered over her, she only coming up to his shoulders if standing on her tip-toes. She reached into her pouch on her belt, taking out a large Omnic head that was about the size of hers. She pressed a few things on the back before smacking the thing hard with her hand. Its headlights blinked on for a moment before it began to speak.

"Reaper ol' buddy! Meet Gear. She's the fastest gal in the gang. Me and' Hog are... Um... Occupied with a business venture y'know? So if you give the core to her, then we'll meet you both on the West coast. No doubt them... Overcants are following you. We've, heh, set up something for that." There was a sound of an explosion from the Omnic's head, the sounds of muffled laughing drifting over, "Oh! Gotta go! Hog has found more toys to play with!". The message cut out, Junkrat's voice fading slowly across the vista. Gear looked up childishly at Reaper as he just stood there like a statue. Eventually he simply shook his head before turning to one of the soldiers.

"Fetch the core. And do not make me gun you down like your insubordinate brother". He snarled across at the man. The soldier gave him a salute before running off into the ship. Gear could've sworn she saw several red dots glowing out from the darkness at the two of them, but she thought little of it. Eventually the soldier returned, handing a smooth spherical object to Reaper, who looked over it before handing it to Gear. In one swift movement he grabbed her rapidly outstretched arm and pulled her up to eye-level, the Omnic head tumbling to the ground as its headlights turned off once more.

"If you lose this, I will tear your spine from your body, beat you with it and ensure your soul burns in the molten slag of the Earth's core, Scav. Consider it lucky we both have the same mutual allies". He dropped her, Gear landing harshly on the ground. She quickly got to her feet and turned, quickly running to her chopper and riding off over the ridge. Reaper watched her go, when the comm bead in his ear buzzed.

"Je suis detesté Scavs, Mort", came a female voice. Reaper chuckled dryly,

"You tagged her yes, Widowmaker?"

"Oui. J'ai". Came the reply.

Gear felt the wind through her leathers, riding through the wastes as fast as the bike would go. Her neck was still sore from Reaper's vice-like grip. The rest of the Gang hadn't seen her, blind sods that they were. The crimson visage of the Omnic appeared besides the bike once again, perched slightly on the back of the bike.

"It is not too late Adria... Remember what you fought for? Before you and the others did what you did?". The voice was sincere, a holographic hand resting on her shoulder. She didn't feel it of course, but the words bit at her. She simply revved the engine more and snarled a response.

"Of course I do. But you know as well as I that I had no choice in that. These people will turn our world into nothing. The world will look like this if we just let them win Adria. Remember your dreams to see the rain forest? To travel to America, see the world?".

Gear let out a roar of anger, slamming the brakes on her bike as it came to a skidding halt, leaving a deep furrow in the sand as she brought it to a stop. She breathed heavily, rage and fury coursing through her. She turned around to snarl at the crimson hallucination, but saw only her dust-cloud that she had kicked up. It had become night time somewhere in her riding, though the sky was obscured by a cloud of radioactive dust and water. She looked down at her hands before looking to the handles of her bike. She felt tears beading in her eyes before she punched the handlebars hard, definitely feeling a finger or two snap.


	3. Chapter 3

Varik opened his eyes slowly, the glow-strip above him blindingly bright. His head felt like it had been slammed into a table repeatedly, his body not too different. He was aware of a moving feeling, but couldn't tell where the sensation was coming from. He felt a hand gently press against his chest and push him back down on whatever he was lying on. Vision still blurred, the figure looked like an angel, with golden glowing wings protruding from her back and a halo over her head.

"Rest now. You are safe here". The voice sounded calm, collected and warm. Varik was convinced he was in heaven until he saw that white-haired soldier standing behind her. He seemed to be on some form of dropship, the walls a bright white with several grooves in the wall that he assumed to be more bunks. There was no light outside the windows.

"I still don't understand why we're bringing him with us Angela. He's dead weight in this op". Came that distinctive, gruff voice, slightly muffled by his visor. The angel-woman turned and even from behind, Varik could see her scowl. The white-haired soldier looked at her a moment, then at Varik before turning and walking off, soon going up or down a flight of stairs. He wasn't sure which. The woman slowly turned to look at him again, smiling.

"Don't worry... We're getting that data-core back. I've convinced J-". She paused a moment before speaking again, "Soldier to allow you to come with us. We think you'll be safer than with the officials".

Varik could only nod and offer his own smile to the woman, slowly moving to sit up again, this time without any resistance. He could hear voiced drifting from elsewhere on the ship, some kind of German man and a very cockney British woman came from the stairwell. He shook his head slightly. Mercy's lips turned to a smirk as she stood from her crouched position, picking up what looked like a long walking staff before she followed the same direction as Soldier. The man just sat there on the bench he had been placed on, somewhat baffled by his predicament. Tears welled up in his eyes as memories of his workplace bing attacked came to mind. The image of his colleagues being gunned down and K4 being destroyed only furthered his sobbing.

"We need him Jack!". Mercy spoke with a raised voice, Soldier's face expressionless behind his tactical combat visor. Zarya glanced up briefly from the data-console before quietly shuffling out of the cockpit. Tracer kept silent for once.

"Somehow Angela, I highly doubt that. He is a dead weight to this op! There is no place for a civvie on this mission!". Soldier's voice was also raised. Mercy scowled at him.

"Then we'll just leave him in the open for Talon operatives to assassinate when we're busy then shall we? He was the only survivor from the building and you know what Talon are like!". The white-haired soldier remained expressionless for a moment before a long, irritated sigh escaped him mask. Mercy glared at him a moment before nodding.

"Good. Now let me look at those injuries Jack". She leant over and put a hand on his shoulder, guiding the aged soldier back towards the medbay. Tracer peered over her shoulder a moment before her focus was put back to piloting the craft. The various consoles flashed and beeped at her occasionally, but there was no sign of the Talon craft. She would have to give a few more sweeps before calling off the search. Zarya came and slumped down in the co-pilot's seat, already doing several reps with a daunting looking barbell.

"How long are we going to continue looking?", Zarya spoke, her accent very thick as usual. Tracer chuckled a little and glanced at her, flicking some of her spiked brown hair out of her face,

"Only a couple more runs darlin'. Then I'll contact Athena. Might be able to get a satellite in position to look for the buggahs". Her voice was chirripy and annoyingly cheery as always, but made Zarya smirk none-the-less.

Some hundred miles away, Gearhead had pulled her chopper into the ruins of an old garage station for the night. She pulled the large bike across to the part of the ceiling that hadn't collapsed before setting about finding some food or a place she could sleep. The place had long since been picked clean, it was right on one of the highways, now just main-roads for scavengers to travel along. Her hand still hurt from her outburst earlier, it would have to be looked at later. She sat herself down on one of the sand-blasted seats, the leather that once adorned it all but gone. Across from her, there was a slight shimmer in the air before the crimson-hued omnic appeared once again, sitting in the chair opposite. They both watched each other for a short while, her looking at the injuries that she had dealt to it before ripping its head off. It was a relatively new omnic, its metal had been painted a standard-issue grey and gold colour. It had only had four headlights however, arranged in a line of three with one dot to the right side between the top two dots. It looked like some kind of P. It was not a warbot, she knew that much. It died too quickly. The faint red-shimmer around the Omnic betrayed the fact it was an illusion, but it didn't stop the thing finding words.

The Omnic itself was studying her, watching her mannerisms, the flexing of her injured hand, the occasionally twitch of her legs to change gears on a non-existent bike and the near-constant shaking life in the saddle of her bike. The Omnic had watched her grow up after the Troubles, even caring for her from time to time. It had no doubt that the creature before her had no memory of that time.

"Adria". Before it could continue, the woman growled slightly, her voice like treacle mixed with a generous helping of sand.

"Shut. Up." The crimson Omnic was silent a moment before speaking again.

"We cannot do this... I cannot allow you to. You must look into yourself! See who you once we-". The woman growled louder and got to her feet, her hands, even the broken one, curling into fists. With her helmet on, the woman was very intimidating. The Omnic just looked at her, pausing before continuing.

"Remember who you were, Adria. Do not become like them...". The Omnic dissipated into the air, the crimson hue slowly fading from sight. Gearhead slowly calmed down, her hands eventually relaxing into a less aggressive position. She slumped herself down in the chair and let sleep take her.


	4. Chapter 4

Gear woke with a start, practically flinging herself from the chair she has fallen asleep in. She shook her head to remove the drowsiness of just having woken up, reaching for her scrap rifle. Outside she could hear the distinctive "thwup" of a vibrobird and the roaring of a drop-ship. Radioactive sand was being blown in by the currents created by the vehicles, lacerating her even through her thick riding leathers. The scavver crept up to the broken window of the gas station she had stopped in, peering over the lip to bear witness the vibrobird slowly descend on the broken highway only several feet away from her. Far above it in the glowing red sky of the Australian Outback, she saw a bright white drop-ship circling for a few moments before racing off to the north. The vibrobird was beginning to stop its rotors, the blades coming to a stop slowly before disappearing as the energy beams were turned off. There was no doubt this was an Overwatch ship, its hull was painted white, blue and orange and practically lathered in the organisation's decals. She felt her hands tighten around her scrap rifle, one hand moving to flick the safety off the side of it and turn the weapon's fire selector to semi-automatic.

She felt the air behind her grow warm and she looked over her shoulder to see the glowing red Omnic place its hand on her shoulder. Though she felt nothing physically, she felt the hand on her shoulder none the less. Before she had a chance to snap at the hallucination, it spoke without any regard to what was going on around them,

"Don't fight them Adria... This is your chance to return to what you were! To the world you fought so hard to protect!". The Omnic's voice was raised and Gearhead's hands only gripped tighter around the scrap rifle. She was sick of this thing and what it was trying to do. She was a scavver and nothing more. Ever since the blast this is all she ever was, whatever had happened before mattered little to nothing. The hatch of the vibrobird hissed and began to lower, Gear having her eyes fixed on the ramp the entire time. She raised her scrap rifle, using the ledge of the window as a support as she began to line up the rifle at about head-height to the ramp. The Crimson Omnic shook its head slowly, turning to walk back to Gear's ride, dissipating into the surrounding air.

The hatch suddenly slammed down and Gear fired a shot from her scrap rifle, the super-heated metal flying true to its target... Before pinging off harmlessly. Gear blinked behind her helmet as she processed this, slowly looking up from her sights to see a giant of a creature, towering over seven feet, clad head to toe in silver power armour of some form. A large hammer was slung over its shoulder. It looked down at the dent the scrap metal had done to its armour and let out a booming chuckle. Gear's eyes widened and she let out a few more cracks from her rifle at the Giant coming down the ramp. Each super-heated shard of metal pinged off just as uselessly as the first, only emitting more booming laughter from the Giant. She saw it put a leg backwards as it leaned forwards. Gear stood up slowly and began to back away from the window when she saw massive rocket boosters on its back flare into life. The Giant began to float along the ground towards where she had been firing from. She was convinced that she heard it yell,

"CATCHPHRASE!" in a distinctively German accent. Gear had to practically throw herself to the ground by the time the Giant slammed through the wall at the high speed it had gained, showering the both of them in dust, bricks and radioactive sand. She scrambled to her feet, trying to run for her chopper, fear definitely over-riding any sensation of feral rage she usually had. The Giant shook its head and watched the small woman fleeing from him. He let out another chuckle and raced after her, swinging the rocket hammer at her with enough distance between them to send her flying into a nearby, long ago broken jukebox. The Giant heard her grunt in pain before he himself grunted in pain, raising a hand to the woman before placing the hand on his back.

"Ach... Von moment if you would... Getting too old for zis". She slowly got to her feet, fairly sure one of her legs was broken and watched the Giant doubled over, looking like it was snapping its own back. Gear was baffled, but saw her chance and began to limp away from the man, still trying to get to her chopper. The silver Giant looked up from his stretching and saw her running. He shook his head and grabbed his hammer, raising it high above his head, smashing part of the ceiling above him, before bringing it down with the hammer's rockets on full burn, slamming it into the ground. Gear felt the very Earth beneath her shake as she fell to the ground, her scrap-rifle going spinning off into the distance. She let out a groan of pain and began to crawl away, in time to fell a large hand grab her by her torso, lifting her up and slinging the scavver over the Giant's shoulder. She struck the man in vain, only to his seeming amusement. The Giant looked at her bike, then back to the woman wriggling on his shoulder before he began to walk back towards the vibrobird. There was suddenly a crimson hue to the air and Reinhardt stopped, turning to see an Omnic, partly translucent and glowing the same colour as the air. It reminded him very much of Zenyatta.

"Ah, Reinhardt. It had been quite some time has it not?". Reinhardt looked over the thing, his helmet not showing any indication that it was even there,

"I do not know you, Omnic. But do elaborate, if you vould". Reinhardt had noticed that the woman had stopped wriggling on his shoulder, but he payed no heed to it.

"You do not remember? Hm. Perhaps it was not as memorable for you as it was for me... Either way... Before you go. There is a Talon package on Adria. I am sure your superiors would like to see it". Reinhardt raised an eyebrow behind his helmet, but gave the strange Omnic ghost a nod, turning to walk. He heard the Crimson Omnic say one more thing,

"And tell Zenyatta that Halcyon is sorry". Reinhardt looked one more time over his shoulder, just in time to see it dissipate. He shook his head and walked back to the vibrobird, strapping in his catch before starting to fly it back towards the drop-ship.

"Your vounds have healed up nicely Varik". Mercy gave him a smile and Varik gave a nod of thanks, reaching behind him to rub the back of his neck. The angel-winged woman got to her feet and walked towards one of the cabinets, starting to put away the medical equipment. Varik felt his dry lips parts as words carelessly tumbled out,

"S-s-so... What happens n-now?" Was all the words he was able to stutter out in his confused state. Mercy turned to look at him, still having that friendly smile on her lips.

"Vell, we are heading to outpost Victoria. Reinhardt has radioed in zat he has found some information that Talon are heading there". Varik nodded slowly, getting to his feet. He was still in his garb from the office complex, still caked in ash and dust. He frowned softly,

"I thought Outpost Victoria had been destroyed by Omnics?".

"It vas. But zat doesn't stop zere being old computers and science research zat Talon can use against us or civilian populations". Varik nodded and offered a slight smile. Mercy gestured him to the stairs, which he hastily headed towards. He accidentally bumped into Soldier on the way out, the older combatant letting out a grunt and barging his way past the civillian.


	5. Chapter 5

It was difficult to say where the desert ended and the ruins of the outpost began. At the height of the Omnic crisis, this Outpost was a major launch point for the operations of Overwatch in the Southern Hemisphere. It was also one of the main bases of the special operations unit, the Blackwatch. It was for this reason that the Omnics targeted this outpost as soon as they were able to mobilize against it and their onslaught was relentless. Images flickered on the holo-screen of the trenches that had been dug around the outskirts of Victoria, showing pulse rifles firing into a horde of Omnic bastion units. Crusader units were dotted around the front line, charging headfirst into the horde, only to be cut down by the thousands of machines. The image flickered again and a picture of a reactor room was shown. It was decided by the strike-commander of the Outpost that it would be better to destroy the base and its databanks, rather than allow the Omnics into the Overwatch mainframe. Thus, the reactor was set to detonate and as many of the Overwatch and the few present Blackwatch soldiers were evacuated.

The image flickered again to the sights of a mushroom cloud on the horizon over a blue ocean. Variks shook his head slightly and set the datapad down, getting to his feet and looking around the small cabin of the airship he had been given.The room wasn't much beyond the bare basics: a bed, a desk of sorts, basic washing facilities and a rather good view from a porthole of the clouds and stars in the sky. Varriks had taken this as the first oppurtunity he had had in the entire day to lie down, wash the grime and blood from his body and generally allow everything to soak in. The giant of a man, the one known as Reinhardt, had returned from his mission to the surface about two hours ago with an unconscious woman over his shoulder. He had often seen scavvers, several came into the city where he worked to trade with scrap merchants, but he usually kept his distance. It was a bad idea to get too involved with them from what his companions had told him. He decided it best not to argue.

He tore his gaze from the porthole, feeling a small sense of calmness suddenly fall over him. Varriks peered over his shoulder, seeing a soft golden glow coming through the frame of his door. Interested, he walked over, throwing on the shirt he had previously discarded. The door swung open on well-used hinges, but the hall was empty. The golden glow still appeared however, appearing from around a corner to the right. It pulled on Varriks, drawing him to it. The ship lurched sideways, causing him to lose his footing and slam into a wall, somewhat harder than he anticipated. By the time the ship had levelled out again, he was already off following the golden glow once more.

Adria's eyes slowly opened. One was being held shut by the black eye that had developed, glued together by dried blood. She attempted to get to her feet, but could only cry out in pain as her right leg failed to respond to her. The scavver growled, reaching down to hold onto her leg. It was only at this point she had realised her leathers and helmet had been removed, she was now in a strange blue and white jumpsuit of some form, with a number stamped onto the back in an orange font. The room she was sat in was small, hardly big enough to contain her, and the man sitting across from her. The red line of the man's visor glared down at her, the splurts of blood still over the mask only making him even more terrifying,

"Ah, you're up, Talon". His voice was hoarse, likely from his earlier shouting. The man stood slowly from his sitting position, taking a step towards her. The one stride was long enough to close the distance between the two of them. Gearhead snarled at him, though in truth she could feel fear beginning to brew in the back of her head, slowly making its way to the front. A fist slammed across her cheek, sending her head spinning and sprawling out across the floor. Her vision spun and she heard the man's footsteps come over to her,

"You are lucky, scum, if it wasn't for your friend, I would have you thrown off this ship. I'll be back once this is all over". He placed a sharp kick to her ribs, causing the brown haired woman to go into a fit of coughing. The large red 76 on the back of the man's jacket was the last thing she was able to see before she caught the glimpse of a golden glow. Her vision slowly faded afterwards, leaving her back in unconsciousness.

Varriks wasn't entirely certain where he was going, he was just following the glow. He ended up bumping into a couple of people, though he paid very little attention to them. One seemed to be a muscular, pink-haired woman and the other was, he was almost certain, some form of human-omnic. Perhaps it was one of the cyborgs that he had heard so much about. Maybe not. It didn't matter. The glow never seemed to be just around the corner, nor did it seem to disappear from sight. It was irritating, but it was impossible to be annoyed while following the light. Eventually the man rounded a corner and was met with a dead end. He looked around, looking for where the light had gone, but it couldn't be seen. He let out an irritated sigh and began to walk back to the main deck when he heard a voice from behind him,

"Ahh, do not give up so easily young one." The voice was definitely robotic, but seemed to carry with it so much life. Varriks looked over his shoulder and saw an Omnic standing behind him. It reminded him heavily of how K4 looked, upright standing, with nine headlights above its eyes. The Omnic approached him, though its legs didn't seem to move, the machine seemed to hover,

"You were close... But we have another duty to attend to...". Varriks shook his head and eyed the Omnic up slowly,

"I am confused... What exactly was I seeing?". The Omnic shook its head slowly, before looking up at the human. Even though it had no lips, Varriks was sure it was smiling,

"The Iris. It shows us many things. All you have to do is look with true eyes young one." The Omnic bowed its head to the man before it hovered away. Varriks watched him go, somewhat bemused by the entire experience. When he looked forward again, he saw that the dead end had turned into a rather large doorway, out of which was coming Soldier 76. Varriks had been told, under no account, to call him by the name Mercy had been calling him by the small chiripy British woman he had met on the bridge. The old soldier moved past him, not even giving an acknowledging grunt. His blue jacket and mask was dotted with specks of blood, Varriks was certain it was not his own. As he began to make his own towards the door, the voice of the British woman, Tracer she had identified as, began to echo through the ship,

"All of you coming t'Victoria with us. Get down t' the Dropship now. Varriks, your presence would be appreciated". The voice cut off and Varriks gave a small nod to himself in acknowledgment. He gave one last look at the door before turning and walking back towards the bridge.

The hanger of the main Overwatch dropship wasn't a small place. It was big enough to house several vibrobirds, small one to six man ships that were used for strike teams. And above that were ships that were able to house ten to twenty men strike teams for bigger operations. Currently, only one of the vibrobirds was on the floor of the hanger, the rest in various forms of docking clamps and bays. Outside of it, Soldier stood, watching people wandering around in the upper rafters, various engineering teams, and his own strike-team walking towards him. Currently it numbered as himself, the old and reliable Reinhardt, Angela, that Russian bodybuilder Zarya, the cyborg Genji and that irritation of a civilian Varriks. His protests seemed to have been falling of deaf ears, but apparently he was mission critical according to both Winston and Angela. He watched them all get on the ship and let out an irritated sigh from behind his mask, feeling the twinge of his scar strike across his face. He stopped mid-turn, seeing the door at the far end open and seeing Zenyatta carrying the prisoner across the gangwalk towards the ship,

"Think you could float any faster monk?" He grunted at the Omnic. The unconscious woman in the monk's arms didn't move, but had been put into basic combat armour. Zenyatta slowly handed the scavver to Soldier,

"I move as fast as is required Jack. I have meditated upon it, and I believe you shall need this one. It would appear that the data-core she had been given has... Well, Winston described it as rupturing". The monk carefully floated back, its headlights glowing a soft and calming blue. Soldier took the woman in his arms, treating her as one would a sack of potatoes,

"And that means?"

"Well, it means the physical properties of the core are useless. I believe the radiation of the outback has... I will tell you when you return Jack. You have a mission to attend to". The monk inclined his head, "There is still chaos within you". Soldier gave a grunt, turning and walking up the ramp.

"I thought I said to cut it out with the mystical crap around me Zenyatta?"


	6. Chapter 6

The vibrobird hit the ground with a heavy thud, shaking about those inside rather heavily. A couple of the spec ops soldiers staggered, though many of them remained as still as statues at the sudden movement. A rather large figure was standing at the front of them, straight infront of the drop ramp. The lights in the cabin turned off, before illuminating the troops in a dark red light, the figure up ahead seemed to begin to smoke, coils of black mist spiralling off of him and into the surrounding air.

"Remember. I want the mainframe intact. Do not make me repeat myself", the voice growled through the air at almost the same speed as the smoke. From seemingly nowhere, the figure managed to produce two shotguns from the depths of its combat armour, the weapons identical to the ones to those it had disposed of earlier. The soldiers could be heard cocking their weapons and flicking the safeties off of their rifles, several of them moving to the front as holo-shields began to flicker from wrist mounted projectors.

"Talon. Engage". The voice rumbled through the air again as the ramp slammed down into the desert sand of the Outback. Before the metal had even clanged onto the ground, Reaper was already out the door, marching at a steady pace at the front of the team of twenty soldiers.

The evening was relatively pleasant. No cloud cover meant that the glowing silver sphere of the moon was free to watch the events occurring below it without hindrance. A cold wind blew over the sand-eaten ruins of Outpost Victoria, making the air smell of rusted metal and the earthiness of sand. To the few desert animals that resided in the ruins, it would've been a pleasant night. If it wasn't for the two large vibrobirds that had just dropped at opposite ends of their homes, spilling out strike teams into the ruins.

The ruins themselves were not large, or rather, not many of the original buildings remained. And those that did had formed a sort of labyrinth about a mile wide and a mile long of collapsed buildings, long wrecked Omnic war-bots and crashed jets. At the centre was a large crater that was all that remained of the initial reactor room of the Outpost where not even the most adventurous desert rodent would attempt to explore. The only notable features that had remained intact by some miracle of the core explosion were a large spire that was once a communications antenna and a small rectangular building near the old hangar of the Outpost. The archives where research data, agent names and combat strategies of the old Overwatch were kept.

Reinhardt marched at the front of the group, Zarya and Jack behind him, with Angela and the civilians behind that. Up on the collapsed rooftops, the cyborg Genji nimbly hopped between coils of metal and heaps of broken concrete, an advanced warning for the team. The night made it hard to navigate the labyrinth that had been formed, though the light from the moon and the night-vision built into his helmet made things that little bit easier. He suddenly came to a stop, a frown reaching his silver eyebrows.

"Vait… I think I can see something up ahead. Genji? Did you see zat aswell?" His voice was slightly distorted by the speakers, as was their function as a weapon in their own right. The cyborg, as well as the other members of the strike team came to a halt. The green glow on the warriors armour seemed to intensify for a moment as he crouched low, seeming to listen for a moment before leaping into the air a good story or so, giving a graceful flip in the air before he landed on the ground, not making any noise during the entire procedure.

"They are here, old friend. We sh-" Before Genji was able to finish his sentence, there was a large bang and a shower of sparks erupted from Reinhardt's shoulder. The old veteran stumbled, but quickly got to his feet. His left arm swung as though going to punch something, but stopped, a large blue holofield flickering into life in front of him.

"Sniper! Go! Get to cover!" The old man yelled. Behind him, Zarya and Soldier grabbed the two civilians, pulling them into the nearest collapsed building, Soldier's visor illuminating an area around him a deep orange colour. Reinhardt looked forward again and saw a group of five soldiers come around the corner of the labyrinth, clad head to toe in black combat armour. One of them seemed to bark an order and the troops began to unload their pulse rifles into Reinhardt's barrier. He gritted his teeth, the visor of his helmet beginning to illuminate with warning lights and symbols. Genji pirouetted out the way of the incoming fire, bringing his wakizashi to bear, gracefully, deflecting the bullets that had been shot towards him back at their origin. A soldier's gun stopped blaring and they collapsed to the ground, blood spewing out of a wound in his neck. With a small shake of his head, Genji leapt into the fray, reaching over his shoulder as he began to yell,

"Ryūjin no ken wo kūrae!"

Varriks was wide eyed, his hands over his head and clinging on for dear life. Even with the armour he had been given, he still had no idea what he was doing or why he was here. The man called Soldier was ahead of them, occasionally giving a burst of his pulse rifle whenever he rounded a corner or thought he saw something move. Beside him was a woman who he could only describe as feral, her hands seeming to clench and unclench in simmering anger while her head darted from one side to the other rather rapidly. Occasionally he could've sworn she growled. Behind them was a small tank of a woman, carrying a large whirring machine that glowed a soft blue. He had no idea where they were going. He didn't even know that this place existed in the state that it did. After all, when he was young it was said that this place had been ripped to pieces by the Omnics and that the Overwatch division had sacrificed itself to ensure the Omnics were halted, even a little for the evacuation of the nearby cities. All of a sudden he heard shouting from up ahead and saw a shimmering crimson holofield behind held by one soldier, with two others stood behind it. Soldier turned quickly, Zarya bringing her weapon as pointing at the old man. Her gun buzzed and a stream of ionised particles shot forwards and enveloped the soldier in a glowing sphere of white light. Bullets seemed to just become absorbed by the light as the Soldier closed distance with the Talon operatives. One of the soldiers, seeing their weapons were doing nothing, turned and began to run. Before the other had a chance to react, he was greeted a spray of pulse munitions directly into his chest, blood splattering over Jack's visor and jumpsuit. The other holding the holoshield let out a loud scream as the white haired soldier began to use his gun like a club to beat the operative to death and then some. The field flickered and the shield dissipated, the image staining in Variks mind with the orange visor, speckled with blood and bathed in the light from the projector. Gearhead only let out a chuckle, a grin on her lips at the sight she just beheld. Soldier gave a grunt and continued marching. They were not far from the archives now.


End file.
